Safety knife



, 1936. J. M. KUHAR June23 SAFETY KNIFE Filed Feb. 11,1956

Patented June 23, 1936 UNITED STATES OFF-16E 1 I 2,045,192 r Y SAFETY KNIFE John M. Kuhar, Akron, Ohio Application February 11, 1936, Serial No. 63,430

, '4 Claims. (01. 30-9) invention relates to the class of cutlery and pertains particularlyto an improved safety,

k'mYer In certain lines; of work such as butchering,

for example, it is necessary for the worker tohandle a' variety of sharp knives and it frequently happens that the worker receives cuts due to the fact. that the edge of a knife'is turned upwardly and in reaching for it, the hand comes in contact with the edge instead of the handle, as desired. It is thus necessary that the worker remember to watch, carefully in picking up a knife so as to see that he lays his hand upon the handle and does not accidently take hold upon the blade.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved knife in which the handle is so constructed that when the knife is laid down or thrown down, it will roll to a position where the edge of the blade is directed downwardly and will maintain this position so that if an attempt is made to pick up the knife without looking to make sure where the handle lies, there will be no risk of running the hand or fingers over the edge of the blade and thus the possibility of being injured is avoided.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved knife structure which is so designed that it will not roll to any material extent even though the knife may be forcibly thrown down but will come to rest quickly and thus the annoying tendency of knives to roll off of the table or cutting block or wherever they may be used is avoided.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part of the specification, with the understanding, however that the invention is not to be confined to the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the accompanying claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the handle portion of a knife showing a part of the blade which is attached thereto;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a view in elevation of a modified form of the handle;

- Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 offFigure 4. w Ir Referring to the drawing wherein. like numer als of reference designate coresponding partsthroughout the several views, the numerall in.-* dicates a knife blade in association with which, the improved handle embodying the present invention and indicated by the numeral 2-, is?

shown. 7 L

Thehandle body 2 may be made ofany suitablematerial and as shown from the sectional: viewconstituting Figure 3, the body of the hen dle is of oval or elliptical cross section, the long axis of the ellipse being parallel with the side or face of the blade I or, in other words, the long axis of the ellipse of the handle is in the same plane as the blade so that when the blade I is arranged vertically with the cutting edge thereof directed downwardly, the long axis of the ellipse of the handle will be vertical.

At its forward end the handle body 2 is provided with the shoulder 3 which is circular throughout the major portion of its peripheral extent but has a straight portion 4 which extends in a plane transversely of the blade I and upon the front of the handle. As shown in Figure 1, when the handle is disposed upon a horizontal supporting surface with the straight portion 4 of the shoulder resting upon the surface, the rear end of the handle will also rest upon the surface with the axis of the ellipse of the handle vertically disposed and with the edge of the blade I directed downwardly. The flat portion 4 of the handle shoulder 3 thus constitutes a supporting foot for the forward end of the knife handle.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 3, the handle at its rear end is provided with a recess or pocket 5 between the under face or bottom of the handle and the longitudinal center thereof, and this pocket is filled with a suitable weighing material such as lead or the like, as indicated at 6. The loading of the handle at one side of its center in, this manner, together with the fact that the handle is elliptical in cross section and that the shoulder at the forward end is circular except for the straight foot portion 4 results in causing the handle to automatically assume a position upon its base 4 when the knife is laid down upon its side or its back, thus insuring the disposition of the knife with the cutting edge of the blade downwardly.

Figures 4 and 5 represent modified forms of the handle, showing another method which may be employed for weighting the same so that it will always roll over to the desired position. Here the handle 2 has a portion cut out at 1, at its under side, and filled out with a weight body 8 which has its exterior contour conforming with the cross sectional contour of the handle. It will be readily apparent that this weight 8 will act in exactly the same way as the weight 6 to cause the handle to roll over until it assumes the desired position upon its supporting foot surface 4.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that by equipping the knives with handles of the character herein described, the same may be used without requiring the constant thought on the pait of the user to look carefully before reaching out to pick up a knife, as it will be apparent that the knives will assume positions where the cutting edges will be directed downwardly and thus the user need have no fear of striking a cutting edge when putting out his hand to pick up a knife.

What is claimed is:

1. In a knife, a handle body, a guard collar encircling the handle body, said collar being circular throughout the major portion of its peripheral extent and having the remaining portion flat to form a supporting foot, and means forming a part of the handle for effecting the rolling of the handle and of said collar to bring the foot into supporting position.

2. In a knife, an elongated handle body, a blade carried by the body, means forming a part of the handle body permitting limited rolling movement of the body about its longitudinal axis, and means for efiecting the rolling of the handle through the limit of its movement when the handle is laid upon a surface in a prescribed manner to bring the cutting edge of said blade into a downwardly directed position.

3. In a knife, an elongated handle having a rounded exterior cross section, a collar encircling the handle at one end, said collar having a. flat area constituting a. supporting foot and being circular throughout the peripheral extent from one side of the flat area to the other and concentric with the longitudinal axis of the handle, and eccentrically disposed weight means carried by the handle upon the side of the longitudinal center nearest said foot.

4. In a knife, an elongated handle body of elliptical cross section, a blade extending from an end of the body which lies in the same plane as the long axis of the elliptical section of the handle,

a collar encircling the handle body at one end and having a greater overall diameter than the handle, said collar having a flat area extending transversely of the handle and of the blade and constituting a foot and having the peripheral portion from one side of the fiat area to the other of circular contour, and weight means carried by the handle adjacent the end remote from the collar and disposed upon the long axis of the elliptical section of the handle upon the side of the longitudinal axis of the handle nearest the foot portion.

JOHN M. KUHAR. 

